The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Crocosmia plant, also referred to as Montbretia, botanically known as Crocosmia X hybrida and hereinafter referred to by the name ‘Fire Starter’.
The new Crocosmia plant is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Carisbrook, Newport, The Isle of Wight, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program is to create new upright and strong Crocosmia plants with large attractive upward-facing flowers, a long flowering period and winter hardiness.
The new Crocosmia plant originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Carisbrook, Newport, The Isle of Wight, United Kingdom on Jul. 10, 2007 of two unnamed seedling selections of Crocosmia X hybrida, not patented. The new Crocosmia plant was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant from within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled greenhouse environment in Carisbrook, Newport, The Isle of Wight, United Kingdom on Aug. 14, 2009.
Asexual reproduction of the new Crocosmia plant by divisions in a controlled greenhouse environment in Carisbrook, Newport, The Isle of Wight, United Kingdom since the spring of 2010 has shown that the unique features of this new Crocosmia plant are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.